358: ‘We’ve lost control’ | Former UK border chief speaks out

The spiked podcast

Politics, Government, News, Society & Culture

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 May 2025

⏱️ 24 minutes

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Summary

This is the audio from a video we have just published on our YouTube channel – an interview with Tony Smith. To make sure you never miss great content like this, subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/@spiked

Record numbers of migrants have arrived illegally on England’s south coast this year. Keir Starmer’s promise to ‘smash the gangs’ of people smugglers has made no notable dent on the small-boats emergency. Meanwhile, deportations of illegal migrants – including those who have committed serious crimes – are routinely blocked in the courts. Here, Tony Smith – former head of the UK Border Force, now managing director at Fortinus Global – explains how Britain lost control of its borders. Human-rights law and international conventions, Tony argues, have been weaponised by an activist judiciary. The result is an asylum policy that no one voted for and that benefits criminals over the genuinely deserving.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Another one is the Joneses at 27 now. New porcelain paving. Looks like Taralis Nordic. Everyone's going Nordic these days. Is the same fella doing it again? Ooh, dark bath. He's using Darkbath. Seek a jointing compound. Betty's got a trade account at you, son. Terralis porcelain paving from £22 per square metre and seek a fast-fits jointing compound at 2999 each. Plus, get 10% off if you
0:23.2	buy two tubs. All trade prices XVAT at 20%. So now you can keep up with the Joneses and the Evanses.
0:30.1	Hi, it's Fraser here. What you're about to hear is the audio from a video we've just published
0:34.4	on Spike's YouTube channel, an interview with Tony Smith,
0:38.5	former head of the UK Border Force. To make sure you never miss any of our video content,
0:43.6	please make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com forward slash spiked.
0:49.4	That's YouTube.com forward slash spiked.
0:52.7	It does require a very bold politician to take this off.
0:56.7	The UK is on course to have the highest migration rate in Europe.
0:59.7	We looked into some of the judgments of the European court.
1:03.9	It's judicial overreach.
1:05.7	The judiciary isn't entirely all of it independent.
1:09.2	You've got this constant pull factor.
1:11.4	Until you can break that cycle,
1:13.8	you're not going to be able to stop small boats coming across to the UK with illegal
1:19.1	entrance, I don't think.
1:23.8	Hello, I'm Fraser Myers, Deputy Editor of Spiked,
1:27.2	and I'm delighted to be joined by Tony Smith, the former head of the UK Border Force, and managing director of Fortinous Global. Welcome, Tony.
1:35.3	Hello, hi there. Tony, it seems as if every week we read a new absurdity about the UK's immigration system. There are stories abound about
1:47.1	Albanian criminals whose children don't like foreign chicken nuggets and so they can't be
1:52.3	deported, or we read about sex offenders whose sexual offences might put them in danger if they're
1:58.4	sent back to Afghanistan, all kinds of things like that.
	...

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